Samoan Heritage Festival is all about 'sharing our love for the community'
Although cultural performances, food trucks, a rugby tournament and vendors might draw many to this week's Samoan Heritage Festival, Pasitale Lupeamanu says the multi-day event is really about "sharing our love for the community."
Lupeamanu is president of Alofa Fa'aSamoa, the nonprofit in charge of organizing the festival. The nonprofit's name is Samoan for "sharing our love for the community," he said. And it shapes how the nonprofit approaches the festival and serving Utah's Samoan community, which Lupeamanu says is the largest of any U.S. state. The free festival, held at Southridge Park, 5051 S. 4015 West in Taylorsville, runs through Saturday.
"Our whole purpose is to put a smile on everybody's face," Lupeamanu said. "Alofa Fa'aSamoa is all abut sharing our love, whether you're black, blue, purple — whatever color you are, we're open to any races, any nationality, any community."
The nonprofit has been around since 2018, but didn't take off until last year when it organized its first festival. Lupeamanu hopes the nonprofit and festival will continue to grow, but he stressed that more financial resources are needed to do so.
"Right now we're just scratching the surface, just trying to find a place of our own," he said. "We just want to serve. If we can serve somebody and give a smile to somebody, that's a win for us."
Maryan Savini, who co-owns Anwhut One-Stop Polynesian Shop in Taylorsville, said she and her business partner decided to be a vendor at the festival to show their support for the community.
"I think we do better together as one instead of separating like those are Samoans, those are Tongans. We all migrate from the Pacific Islands. I think we all just need to work together to build our community," Savini said. "We have a rare, very strong community here in Utah, but I think if everyone else that owns businesses or has organizations came together as one, we would be a strong face in Utah."
Haviar Tuitama-Hafoka runs Malialole Polynesian Cultural Arts Ensemble along with his mother, Vida Tu'itama'alelagi Hafoka. He stressed that the festival is a chance to see Polynesian culture displayed correctly and with respect.
"There's a lot of us and we're not ancient relics that are from luaus," he said. "I think a lot of people have this misconception that we as a people don't exist or that we're not there, so then there's a lot of countercultures that try performing or they have this sort of like luau culture where there's a lack of understanding."
In addition to performing at the festival, Tuitama-Hafoka's group is also involved in running the festival's youth workshops at Kearns Library, which cover topics like navigating culture as Polynesian Americans. He hopes the performances and workshops will help bridge the gap between first-generation Polynesians and those who have been here multiple generations.
"It's a hopeful understanding that our legacy will continue on and our culture will continue on — and that we can fully submerse ourselves with being Americans but also being Polynesians and embracing our culture and continuing our culture here," he said.
Naomi Thompson Ama, a Saoman who grew up in Hawaii, has lived in Utah for 30 years. She said she makes a point each year to attend Polynesian festivals. It's a chance to see family and friends, shop for Polynesian goods and eat island food, she said with a cup of 'otai in hand.
"As Polynesian people, it's all about the food. We're so far away from home — Hawaii, Tonga, Samoa. Those are some of the things that we miss: our island food, the artifacts, the different fashions they come up with," she said. "The festivals encourage our people to be one and to be happy and to enjoy each other. We're very close knit community, the Polynesian community."
